Modern communications systems interconnect various electrical, electro-mechanical, or electrically controlled apparatuses. These connections may be referred to as connections between client devices and host devices. For the purposes of the present disclosure, host devices are simply parts of the network that serve to host or enable communications between various client devices. Generally speaking, host devices are apparatuses that are dedicated to providing or enabling communications, but this does not have to be the case. Peer-to-peer networks exist wherein, at any given moment, a device may be either client or host. In such a network, when the device is providing data, information or services, it may be referred to as the host, and when the same device is requesting information, it may be referred to as the client.
The host may provide connection to a Local Area Network (LAN), sometimes referred to as an Intranet, owing to the common use of such a network entirely within an office space, building, or business. The host may additionally or alternatively provide connection to a Wide Area Network (WAN), commonly describing a network coupling widely separated physical locations which are connected together through any suitable connection, including for exemplary purposes but not solely limited thereto such means as fiber optic links, T1 lines, Radio Frequency (RF) links including cellular telecommunications links, satellite connections, DSL connections, or even Internet connections. Generally, where more public means such as the Internet are used, secured access will commonly separate the WAN from general Internet traffic. The host may further provide access to the Internet. Exemplary host apparatuses include modems, routers, switches, or other devices that may enable or secure communications with clients, even including other clients as noted herein above.
A variety of client devices have heretofore been enabled to connect to host devices. Such client devices may commonly include computing devices of all sorts, ranging from hand-held devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to massive mainframe computers, and including Personal Computers (PCs). However, over time many more devices have been enabled for connection to network hosts, including for exemplary purposes printers, network storage devices, cameras, other security and safety devices, appliances, HVAC systems, manufacturing machinery, and so forth. Essentially, any device which incorporates or can be made to incorporate sufficient electronic circuitry may be so linked as a client to a host.
Most current communications systems rely upon wires and/or radio waves to link clients and hosts. Existing client devices are frequently designed to connect to host network access points through wired connections, like copper wire, for example, fiber optic connections, or as wireless connections, such as wireless routers or wireless access points.
In the case of a wired system, whether through simple wire, twisted wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics or other line or link, the host and client are tethered together through this physical communications channel. A wired systems must physically span between the apparatus, such as client and host, and therefore must be physically placed or installed. Inside of a building, since these wires must remain during communications the tether thus created limits movement of the client relative to the host. The wire is often unsightly and hard to contain in a work space. The wire may also be or become a tripping hazard. In addition, electrical connectors such as jacks must be provided, and these connectors necessarily limit the number of access points and locations. The installation of connectors defaces walls, sometimes rendering them unsuitable for a particular desired application, and yet they add undesirable installation expense, whether during new construction or in retrofitting an existing building structure. Outside of a building, wires are subject to lightning strikes, EMI/RFI generation and reception, and breakage as known to occur during ice storms in the case of overhead wires and accidental cutting during excavating in the case of buried cables.
In contrast, in the case of wireless routers a radio signal replaces the physical communications channel between clients and hosts with a radio channel. This advantageously eliminates the wire tether between client and host. Instead, client devices in a wireless system try through various broadcasts and signal receptions to find an access point that will have adequate transmission and reception, generally within a certain signal range which may range from a few meters to as many as several tens of meters. The systems are programmed to bridge from a host access point to various client devices through known exchanges of information, commonly described as communications protocols or handshakes. Depending upon the communications channel, a variety of client connection devices are utilized such as PCMCIA or PC cards, serial ports, parallel ports, SIMM cards, USB connectors, Ethernet cards or connectors, firewire interfaces, Bluetooth compatible devices, infrared/IrDA devices, and other known or similar components. The security of these prior art wireless devices can be compromised in that they are vulnerable to unauthorized access or interception, and the interception may be from a significant distance, extending often well beyond physical building and property boundaries. Moreover, reliability can be hindered by interference from an appliance such as a microwave oven or other machinery or apparatus.
Because of the ever-changing nature of a building and the best practices associated therewith, it can be quite difficult if not impossible to keep all areas within a building up to date with best practices or preferred capabilities. One common obstacle to providing desirable features or capabilities within a building space is the need for electrical wiring adequate to accommodate the features or capabilities, particularly when the features or capabilities are identified subsequent to original construction.
Even where a building is originally provided with appropriate wiring for each electrical system or component desired, necessary remodeling may critically alter the need. As one example, consider when a room or space is subdivided into two smaller spaces. Existing wiring only provides for electrical connection to one set of devices for one room. In this case, it may be necessary to run new wires back to one or more central locations, utility rooms, or the like to accommodate the new room and devices within the room.
More buildings are incorporating wireless networks within the building, the networks which are intended to reduce the need for wiring alterations and additions practiced heretofore. However, these wireless networks are not contained within the walls of a building, and so they are subject to a number of limitations. One of these is the lack of specific localization of a signal and device. For exemplary purposes, even a weak Radio-Frequency (RF) transceiver, in order to communicate reliably with all devices within a room, will have a signal pattern that will undoubtedly cross into adjacent rooms. If only one room or space in a building is to be covered, this signal overlap is without consequence. However, when many rooms are to be covered by different transceivers, signal overlap between transceivers requires more complex communications systems, including incorporating techniques such as access control and device selection based upon identification. Since the radio signal is invisible, detection of radiant pattern and signal strength are difficult and require special instruments. Further, detection of interference is quite difficult. Finally, such systems are subject to outside tapping and corruption, since containment of the signal is practically impossible for most buildings.
In addition to data communications, buildings and other spaces may also have a number of additional important needs including, for exemplary purposes though not limited thereto, illumination, fire and smoke detection, temperature control, and public address. With regard to illumination, buildings and other spaces are designed with a particular number and placement of particular types of light bulbs. Most designers incorporate incandescent or fluorescent bulbs to provide a desirable illumination within a space. The number and placement of these bulbs is most commonly based upon the intended use of the space.
Original electric light bulbs were incandescent. With sufficient electrical energy, which is converted to heat within an incandescent bulb filament, the filament will emit visible light. This is similar to a fire, where with enough heat, visible light is produced. As most materials are heated, they will first begin to glow a dull red. As the temperature is raised further, the color changes to a brighter red, then yellow, then white, and finally to a blue color. Likewise, flames exhibit this same coloring depending upon the temperature of a flame. Most people will recall the blue and yellow portions of candle flames. To permit comparisons between different light sources, the color produced by a light bulb is compared to a hot body at a known temperature, which will emit light having color shades that depend upon the temperature.
Most incandescent bulbs emit light at a color temperature typically in the vicinity of 3,000 degrees Kelvin. This is considered to be a warm hue, which is often prized in relaxed settings such as those of a living room or dining room. This color of light more closely resembles gentle candle light.
In contrast to warm incandescent light, work and study environments are more preferably illuminated with light of more blue content, more closely resembling daylight. Color temperatures of approximately 6,000 degrees Kelvin resemble daylight. Daylight color temperatures are not practically obtained using an incandescent bulb.
Not only are incandescent bulbs limited to lower color temperatures and yellow hues, these bulbs also only have a few thousand hour life expectancy. The extreme temperatures required for the filament to light also gradually evaporates the filament material. Also undesirably, incandescent bulbs produce far more heat than light, meaning they are inefficient in converting electrical energy into light. These limitations exist even though there have been more than a century of improvements. Nevertheless, and in spite of the many limitations, incandescent bulbs are still in fairly wide-spread use today.
There exist many choices of bulb types today, including but not limited to the incandescent bulb. The selection of light bulb type can be used to control both intensity and color of illumination. Color of illumination as used herein may include specific optical wavelengths associated with one or another color within the visible spectrum, but will also be understood to refer to various color temperatures as already described herein above.
An alternative to incandescent light bulbs in common use today is the fluorescent bulb. A fluorescent light bulb uses a small amount of mercury in vapor state. High voltage electricity is applied to the mercury gas, causing the gas to ionize and generate some visible light, but primarily Ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light is harmful to humans, being the component that causes sun burns, so the UV component of the light must be converted into visible light. The inside of a fluorescent tube is coated with a phosphorescent material, which when exposed to ultraviolet light glows in the visible spectrum. This is similar to many glow-in-the-dark toys and other devices that incorporate phosphorescent materials. As a result, the illumination from a fluorescent light will continue for a significant time, even after electrical power is discontinued, which for the purposes of the present disclosure will be understood to be the latent period or latency between the change in power status and response by the phosphor. As the efficiencies and brightness of the phosphors has improved, so in many instances have the delays in illumination and extinguishing, or latency, increased. Through the selection of ones of many different modern phosphorescent coatings at the time of manufacture, fluorescent bulbs may be manufactured that produce light from different parts of the spectrum, resulting in manufacturing control of the color temperature, or hue or warmness of a bulb.
The use of fluorescent bulbs, even though quite widespread, is controversial for several reasons. One source states that all pre-1979 light ballasts emit highly toxic Polychlorinated BiPhenyls (PCBs). Even if modern ballasts are used, fluorescent bulbs also contain a small but finite amount of mercury. Even very small amounts of mercury are sufficient to contaminate a property. Consequently, both the manufacture and disposal of mercury-containing fluorescent tubes is hazardous. Fluorescent lighting has also been alleged to cause chemical reactions in the brain and body that produce fatigue, depression, immuno-suppression, and reduced metabolism. Further, while the phosphor materials may be selected to provide hue or color control, this hue is fixed at the time of manufacture, and so is not easily changed to meet changing or differing needs for a given building space.
Other gaseous discharge bulbs such as halide, mercury or sodium vapor lamps have also been devised. Halide, mercury and sodium vapor lamps operate at higher temperatures and pressures, and so present undesirably greater fire hazards. In addition, these bulbs present a possibility of exposure to harmful radiation from undetected ruptured outer bulbs. Furthermore, mercury and sodium vapor lamps generally have very poor color-rendition-indices, meaning the light rendered by these bulbs is quite different from ordinary daylight, distorting human color perception. Yet another set of disadvantages has to do with the starting or lighting of these types of bulbs. Mercury and sodium vapor lamps both exhibit extremely slow starting times, often measured by many minutes. The in-rush currents during starting are also commonly large. Many of the prior art bulbs additionally produce significant and detrimental noise pollution, commonly in the form of a hum or buzz at the frequency of the power line alternating current. In some cases, such as fluorescent lights, ballasts change dimension due to magnetostrictive forces. Magnetic field leakage from the ballast may undesirably couple to adjacent conductive or ferromagnetic materials, resulting in magnetic forces as well. Both types of forces will generate undesirable sound. Additionally, in some cases a less-optimal bulb may also produce a buzzing sound.
When common light bulbs are incorporated into public and private facilities, the limitations of prior art bulb technologies often will adversely impact building occupants. As just one example, in one school the use of full-spectrum lamps in eight experimental classrooms decreased anxiety, depression, and inattention in students with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). The connection between lighting and learning has been conclusively established by numerous additional studies. Mark Schneider, with the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, declares that ability to perform requires “clean air, good light, and a quiet, comfortable, and safe learning environment.” Unfortunately, the flaws in much of the existing lighting have been made worse as buildings have become bigger. The foregoing references to schools will be understood to be generally applicable to commercial and manufacturing environments as well, making even the selection of types of lights and color-rendition-indexes very important, again depending upon the intended use for a space. Once again, this selection will be fixed, either at the time of construction when a particular lighting fixture is installed, or at the time of bulb installation, either in a new fixture or with bulb replacements.